Method, system and article of manufacture for identifying regularly traveled routes

ABSTRACT

An in-vehicle navigation system includes a receiver for receiving real-time traffic information (RTTI), a database for storing routine trip information, and a processor for running a regular route application. The regular route application includes a learning mode program and an operational mode program. The learning mode program records information regarding trips regularly taken by a vehicle and populates the database with records of routine trip information. The recorded trip information can include driver identifiers, trip departure times, origin points, destination points, dates of travel, days of travel, and route data. When the vehicle begins a new trip, the operational mode program determines whether the vehicle is engaging in a routine trip. This is accomplished by comparing current vehicle location or departure time information to routine trip information in the database. If the vehicle is starting a routine trip, the operational mode program retrieves from the database trip information stored in a trip record associated with the routine trip, accesses RTTI corresponding to the trip information, and notifies an end user about traffic conditions indicated by the RTTI.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to vehicle navigationsystems, and in particular to a vehicle navigation system that iscapable of identifying regularly traveled routes and use this capabilityto provide additional features.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Vehicle navigation systems have become available in a variety offorms and provide for a variety of useful features. Some vehiclenavigation systems are able to determine an optimum route to travel byroads between locations. Using input from an end user, and optionallyfrom equipment that can determine one's physical location (such as a GPSsystem), a vehicle navigation system can examine various routes betweenthe end user's present location and a specified destination location todetermine an optimum route to travel. The vehicle navigation system maythen provide the end user with information about the optimum route inthe form of instructions that identify the maneuvers required to betaken by the end user to travel from the starting location to thedestination location. The instructions may take the form of audioinstructions that are provided along the way as the end user istraveling the route. Some navigation systems are able to show detailedmaps on computer displays outlining routes to destinations, the types ofmaneuvers to be taken at various locations along the routes, locationsof certain types of features, and so on.

[0003] Although vehicle navigation systems currently provide many usefulfeatures, there is opportunity for enhancing their capabilities. Forexample, features such as map display, route calculation, and directioninstruction are particularly useful in scenarios where the end user isnot entirely familiar with a particular geographic area in which he/sheis traveling. In scenarios where the end user is traveling alongfamiliar routes, there is a need to extend the functionality ofnavigation systems to enhance the overall driving experience. In thesesituations, end users may be provided with other useful features.Accordingly, there exists a need for a navigation system capable ofidentifying routes routinely traveled by an end user and providingadditional useful features based on this information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary navigationsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0005]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the software programsincluded in the regular route application of FIG. 1.

[0006]FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a process of learningregularly driven routes, which is performed by the learning mode programof FIG. 2.

[0007]FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary format for a trip record stored inthe trip database of FIG. 1.

[0008]FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a process ofautomatically notifying an end user about traffic conditions, which isperformed by the operational mode program shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0009] Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, thereis illustrated an exemplary navigation system 10 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The navigation system 10 includes acombination of hardware and software components that can be implementedin various different kinds of environments or on different platforms.For example, the navigation system 10 may be located in an automobile,truck, or other land-based vehicle. In an exemplary embodiment, thenavigation system 10 includes appropriate components which may include areal-time traffic information (RTTI) receiver 14, an RTTI antenna, 14, aglobal positioning system (GPS) 16, a GPS antenna 18, a date/time clock35 for providing current time and date information, one or more sensors20 coupled to sense the vehicle speed, operational state and distancetraveled, and a compass 22 to sense the vehicle direction. In addition,the navigation system can include a central processing unit (CPU) 26 andmemory 28, a trip database (DB) 37, as well as other appropriatehardware.

[0010] The date/time clock 35 can be implemented locally in thenavigation system 10; alternatively, current date and time informationcan be obtained from external sources, such as GPS or cellular systems.

[0011] The RTTI receiver 14 and antenna 12 allow the navigation system10 to retrieve real-time traffic information from available sources. Thereceiver 14 can include any means for receiving the information, such asa conventional radio frequency (RF) interface to a wireless datanetwork, or a dedicated wireless link to a real-time traffic datagathering system.

[0012] Included as part of the navigation system 10 is a drive 30 (orother suitable peripheral device) into which a data storage medium 32can be installed. One or more geographic data sets 34 are stored on thestorage medium 32. In one embodiment, the storage medium 32 is a CD-ROMdisc. In another alternative embodiment, the storage medium 32 may be aPCMCIA card in which case the drive 30 would be substituted with aPCMCIA slot. Various other storage media may be used, including fixed orhard disks, DVD, or other currently available storage media, as well asstorage media that may be developed in the future.

[0013] The navigation system 10 also includes a user interface 40coupled to the CPU 26. The user interface 40 includes appropriate meansfor receiving input from an end user, as well as means for providinginformation back to the end user. For example, the user interface 40 mayinclude an input panel or keyboard into which an end user may indicate aselection of a destination or a travel route. The user interface 40 mayalso include a display or speakers (including speech synthesis hardwareand software) by which the user can be informed of navigationinformation. For visual navigation information, the user interface 40may provide features allowing the user to zoom a display in or out of aparticular geographic area to alternately display a larger geographicarea or more detailed geographic information.

[0014] Although GPS 16 is shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 may employ anyof several technologies to determine or approximate the end user'sphysical locations in a geographic region. For example, as analternative or in addition to GPS, the system 10 may employ a deadreckoning-type system, LORAN C, or combinations of these, or othersystems.

[0015] The navigation system 10 includes another data storage device 36(ROM) which is used to store navigation application programs 38 andregular route application programs 39. Alternatively, the applicationprograms 38 and 39 may be provided on the same storage device or medium32 as the geographic data sets 34.

[0016] Although the regular route application programs 39 are shown asresiding in the ROM 36 of the system 10, the regular route applicationprograms 39 can be stored on any other suitable computer-usable mediumfor configuring the CPU 26 to perform the learning mode program and theoperation mode program as disclosed herein. The computer-usable mediumcan be an article of manufacture for storing computer programs, such asa CD ROM, hard drive, DVD, diskette, solid-state memory such as a RAM,ROM, or EEPROM, or the like. Alternatively, the CPU 26 can be a customhardware device, such as one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC) designed to perform the functions of either or both ofthe application programs 38-39, without relying on an external memoryfor storing software programs.

[0017] The navigation application programs 38 are a software programsthat use the geographic data set 34 and the positioning system (e.g.,GPS, when employed). The navigation application programs 38 providevarious navigation features to the end user of the navigation system 10.These features may include route calculation functions, maneuvergeneration functions, map display functions, vehicle positioningfunctions, destination resolution capabilities, and so on. Thenavigation features are provided to the end user (e.g., the vehicledriver) by means of the user interface 40. The navigation and regularroute application programs 38-39 may be written in a suitable computerprogramming language such as C, although other programming languages arealso suitable.

[0018] During usage of the navigation system 10, one or more of thenavigation application programs 38 are loaded from the ROM 36 into thememory 28 associated with the CPU 26. The programs 38 receive input fromthe user interface 40. The input may include a request for navigationinformation. The programs 38 also receive information from thepositioning subsystem hardware and software 16-22. The information fromthe hardware/software 16-22 is used by the navigation applications 38 todetermine the location, direction, speed, and the like, of the vehicle.The navigation applications 38 may provide the end user with a graphicaldisplay, e.g., a map, of the end user's specific location in thegeographic region. In addition, the navigation application programs 38may provide the end user with specific directions to locations in thegeographic area from wherever the end user is located.

[0019] To provide these various navigation application features, thenavigation system 10 uses the geographic data (geo DB) 34 stored on thestorage medium 32, optionally in conjunction with the output from thepositioning subsystem hardware/software 16-22. The geographic data 34may be in the form of one or more computer-readable files or databasesthat enable the navigation application programs 38 to provide thesupported features. For example, to enable the calculation of a routebetween two locations in the geographic region, the geographic data 34may include route calculation data that includes the positions of roadsand intersections in the geographic region, information about one-waystreets, turn restrictions, stop signs, stop lights, speed limits, andso on.

[0020] When performing a map display function with the navigationsystem, the sizes, shapes, and relative positions of geographic featuresin a portion of a geographic region are portrayed on the display of theuser interface 40. These geographic features may include roads,intersections, and points-of-interest, as well as other features, suchas lakes, railroad tracks, buildings, airports, stadiums, parks,mountain ranges, docks, ferries, tunnels, bridges, and so on. To providethis map display function, the geographic data set 34 may includecartographic data which allow the navigation application program 38 todisplay maps illustrating the size, shape, position, and character ofthese various geographic features on the display.

[0021] As depicted in FIG. 2, the regular route application programs 39are software programs that include a learning mode program 50 and anoperational mode program 52. The learning mode program 50 identifies andrecords information regarding trips regularly taken by a vehicle andthen populates the trip database 37 with records of routine tripinformation. (When used in reference to routes or trips, the terms“regular” and “routine” are used interchangeably herein). The recordedtrip information can include trip departure times, origin points,destination points, dates of travel, days of travel, and route data.

[0022] The learning mode program 50 can be activated either manually orautomatically. To activate the learning mode manually, an end user canemploy the user interface 40 to enter a learn route command into thesystem 10. The learn route command causes the learning mode program 50to record trip information and then store it as a routine trip record inthe database 37. By entering the learn route command at the beginning ofa trip, a driver can manually designate the trip as a routine trip andthe system 10 will then record and store trip information, such as thedeparture time, origin and destination points, and traveled route. Inaddition, the driver can manually designate the trip as being either aprimary or secondary route. The learn route command itself can beentered using any suitable computer-human interface included in the userinterface 40, such as a touch screen, push button, keyboard, graphicaluser interface, or the like.

[0023] The automatic learning mode can be the system default, executingthe learning mode program 50 in background during vehicle operation toidentify and record regularly traveled routes without requiring end-userintervention. A method for automatically learning regular routes isdescribed below in connection with FIG. 3.

[0024] When the vehicle begins a new trip, the operational mode program52 determines whether the vehicle is engaging in a routine trip. This isaccomplished by comparing current vehicle location or departure timeinformation to routine trip information in the database 37. If thevehicle is starting a routine trip, the operational mode program 52retrieves from the database 37 trip information stored in a trip recordassociated with the routine trip and provides one or more additionaluseful features using the routine trip information. One of theseadditional features includes accessing RTTI corresponding to the tripinformation and notifying an end user about traffic conditions indicatedby the RTTI.

[0025]FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram 70 illustrating a method ofautomatically learning regularly (routinely) driven routes, which can beperformed by the learning mode program 50. In step 72, the origin pointof a trip about to be taken is determined. Generally, the origin pointrepresents the physical starting location of a trip taken by a vehicle.The origin point can be determined using the positioning hardware and/orsoftware 16-22 to determine the physical location of the vehicle whenthe vehicle enters an operational state from an off state. The originpoint can be temporarily stored by the navigation system 10.

[0026] In step 74, the time of the trip departure is temporarilyrecorded. The date, day of week, and time of day can be recorded whenthe vehicle enters the operational state.

[0027] In step 76, the route taken by the driver is determined. This canbe accomplished by monitoring and temporarily recording position datafrom the positioning hardware and/or software 16-22 during vehicleoperation. The recorded position data can be compared to road segmentdata included in the geo DB 34 to determine roadways taken during atrip. Information identifying roadways taken during the trip can then bestored as route data.

[0028] In step 78, the destination point of the trip is determined. Thedestination point represents the physical location of the end point of atrip. The destination point can be determined using the positioninghardware and/or software 16-22 to determine the physical location of thevehicle when the vehicle has completed a trip. Indications that a triphas been completed include, but are not limited to, events such as thevehicle transitioning from the operational state to the off state, thevehicle being placed in park, the vehicle not moving for a predefinedperiod of time, user input indicating the completion of a trip, or thelike.

[0029] In step 80, a comparison is made between trip information storedin the trip database 37 and the temporarily stored information about thejust completed trip. In particular, the comparison can be based on oneor more of the origin point, destination point, time of departure, androute data, of the just completed trip. To make the comparison, rangevalues can be established for the various data stored in the tripdatabase 37. For example, a range distance can be established for theorigin points stored in the database 37. If the origin point of the justcompleted trip falls within the range of a stored origin point of aroutine trip, then a match is found. Range values and range comparisonscan also be established and made for departure times and route data.

[0030] If the information regarding the just completed trip does notmatch a stored trip record, the just completed trip represents a newtrip and a new trip record is created (step 82). The new trip record canbe retained for a specified period of time. If an additional trip is nottaken along the route during the period, the trip record may bediscarded as not representing a regularly traveled route. However, ifone or more additional trips are made along the route, the record may bekept, representing a regularly traveled route.

[0031] If the just completed trip information matches a stored triprecord, the just completed trip is identified as a previously recordedroute. In this case, route frequency statistics, such as days traveled,departure time and number of trips made on the route are updated (step84). The learning mode program 50 can also identify primary andsecondary routes between particular origin and destination points bycomparing the frequency at which the routes are traveled. The mostfrequently traveled route is identified as the primary route.

[0032] In step 86, the temporarily stored trip information, such as therecorded route, the date/time of departure, origin and destinationpoints, and the like, is discarded.

[0033]FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary format of a trip record 100 storedin the trip database 37. The trip record 100 includes a trip identifier(ID) field 102, an origin field 104, a destination field 106, a routedata field 108, a departure time field 110, a days of week traveledfield 112, a cumulative field 114, and a primary/secondary flag 116.

[0034] The trip ID 102 can be a field for storing text or alphanumericcharacters identifying the trip associated with the record. In addition,the trip ID 102 can include a driver identifier for associating the triprecord with a particular end user. The departure time 124 can be a textfield defining or storing the departure time. The origin 104 and thedestination 106 are fields for storing location information for thebeginning and ending points, respectively, of a trip. The route data 108include information for defining a route between origin and destinationpoints of the trip. The information can include data retrieved from thegeo DB 34. The days of week traveled field 112 can indicate the daysthat the route has been traveled in the past. This field 112 is usefulfor identifying routine trips, such as work or school trips, which occuron particular days of the week, such as Monday through Friday.

[0035] The cumulative field 114 can indicate the total number of timesthe trip has been taken. The number of times a trip has been taken canbe represented using an exact count, or ranges of times, i.e.,1000-2000, 2001-3000, and so on.

[0036] The primary/secondary flag 116 indicates whether the recordedtrip information represents a primary route or a secondary route. Asdiscussed above, primary and secondary routes connect the same originand destination points, with primary routes being more frequentlytraveled than secondary routes. There can be one or more secondaryroutes associated with a particular set of origin and destinationpoints. The flag 116 can be determined based on the values stored incumulative fields 114. Alternatively, the flag 116 can be manually setby an end user through the user interface 40. With the user interface40, an end user can enter a command to designate a route as primary orsecondary.

[0037]FIG. 5 shows a flow chart diagram 130 illustrating details of theoperational mode program 52. In the operational mode, the navigationsystem first determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling on aroutine trip. If the vehicle is on a routine trip, the system 10provides one or more additional useful features. One additional usefulfeature is a traffic watch feature. According to this feature, when theoperational mode program 52 determines that the vehicle is on a routineroute, it checks traffic conditions along the route and notifies thedriver of predicted travel times, traffic conditions and incidents,and/or alternative routes. This overall process is accomplished asfollows.

[0038] In step 132, a check is made to determine whether the vehicle isat the origin point of a recorded routine trip. If the vehicle is not ator near a previously recorded origin point of a routine trip, the system10 determines that the vehicle is not engaging in a routinely traveledtrip. However, if the vehicle is at or near a recorded origin point, thesystem 10 determines that the vehicle is about to make a routine trip.

[0039] In some situations, a recorded origin point may correspond tomultiple routinely traveled trips. For example, a recorded origin pointmay correspond to a traveler's home. Routine trips starting from thetraveler's home could include trips to work, trips to school, shoppingtrips, and so on. To help determine which routine trip is being taken, acomparison can be made between the current time and recorded departuretimes corresponding to the recorded origin point. The routine tripsassociated with the current time and origin point can then be listed,permitting the end user to select trips about to be taken.

[0040] After the operational mode program 52 determines that the vehicleis on a routine trip, one or more additional useful features areprovided. As mentioned above, one of these additional useful features isa traffic watch feature whereby the traffic conditions along the routineroute are automatically checked for the driver. To check trafficconditions, the system 10 first retrieves route informationcorresponding to the trip (step 136). Next, in step 138, the system 10retrieves real time traffic information (RTTI) using the RTTI receiver14. With the RTTI, the system 10 then determines route travel times foreach route connecting the destination and origin points of the trip(step 140). The RTTI can be traffic congestion information. One way togather this information is by using sensors placed on the roadways tomeasure traffic flow. Such RTTI is publicly available from various stateand local government agencies. For example, the Illinois Department ofTransportation (IDOT) provides road segment travel time information at apublicly accessible website. Such information can be used by theoperational mode program 52 to update the current travel time for routesstored in the trip database 37 or those routes currently being traveled.The operational mode program 52 can compute route travel times bydownloading the publicly available traffic information and converting itinto a format consistent with the road segments stored for each trip inthe trip database 37. Alternatively, already converted trafficinformation can be downloaded from either private or public sources ifavailable.

[0041] In step 142, the user is notified, using the user interface 40,of traffic conditions, traffic incidents, travel times and/or alternateroutes corresponding to the trip about to be taken. The system 10 cannotify the user of the route with the fastest travel time if more thanone route (i.e., primary and secondary routes) has been recorded for aparticular origin/destination point pair. Alternatively, a thresholdcomparison can be made to determine whether current travel times forrecorded routes for an origin/destination point pair are excessive. Ifthe travel times are excessive, then an alternative route can bedetermined and presented to the user. For example, if route travel timesfor a regularly traveled trip are fifty percent longer than normal, thesystem 10 can alert the user and provide an alternative route, one thatis not currently recorded in the trip database 37.

[0042] To determine an alternative route, a route calculation programcan be used. The route calculation program can determine route traveltimes and automatically select best routes based on trip origin anddestination points, as well as information contained in the geo DB 34 orRTTI. The geo DB 34 stores road information organized as a plurality ofroad segments. The road segments contain computer-usable informationdescribing roadways, such as geographic location, addresses and trafficcontrol devices along the segment, and estimated travel time. One methodavailable for performing route calculations is disclosed in co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/047,698, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

[0043] The routes determined by the route calculation program can becompared to those recorded for the trip to ensure that the alternativeroute is not the same as one already recorded for the trip.

[0044] In addition, the system 10 can monitor RTTI while the user istraveling on a particular route to notify the user of any trafficincidences, such as accidents, along the route. If a traffic incident isdetected, an alternative route can be selected from the recorded routesor determined using the route calculation program.

[0045] As mentioned above, by having the capability to recognize routineroutes, the navigation system can provide various additional usefulfeatures. The traffic watch feature, mentioned above, is one of thesefeatures. Another of these features is a trip-logging feature. Accordingto this feature, a user is able to download from the trips database 37 alog of all the routine trips that the user has taken with the vehicleover a period of time. This information can be used for keeping track ofcertain kinds of trips. For example, using the logging feature, the enduser can determine the number of business trips and the mileage of thesefor tax purposes or for reimbursement. Similarly, using the loggingfeature, the end user can determine the medical-related trips forinsurance and tax deduction purposes.

[0046] According to another feature, a user can use the routine routesdata from the trips database for a driving profile analysis program. Thedriving profile analysis program analyzes the user's driving patternsand suggests possible ways that the user can save time or money. Forexample, the driving profile analysis may determine that if the user isable to leave one-half hour later for certain a certain routine trip, anoverall savings of travel time can be obtained. Alternatively, thedriving profile analysis may suggest that certain routine trips becombined, if possible, to reduce overall time and expense spent driving.

[0047] According to another feature, the end user can be informed aboutspecial sales or promotions along the routine routes. For example, arestaurant may have a promotion for motorists who routinely drive pastits location. Alternatively, a department store located on an end user'sroutine route may have a special sale promotion. The user can beinformed of this special sale promotion in the same manner as he/she isinformed about traffic.

[0048] The system 10 can be “personalized” for individual end users,i.e., it can be configured to record and maintain routine trip data, aswell as provide features, on a per user basis. The personalizationcapability of the system 10 is useful in situations where multipledrivers use the same vehicle. In such situations, the learning modeprogram 50 can be configured to generate and store trip records that areassociated with respective end users.

[0049] The operational mode program 52 can likewise perform itsfunctions on a per user basis, checking conditions and providingnotification for those routes corresponding to the particular end useroperating the vehicle.

[0050] To provide system personalization, the user interface 40 caninclude a user identification interface that permits drivers to enter auser ID and/or password that is then used by the system 10 to identifytrip records and features corresponding to the driver. User profiles canalso be entered by the driver and stored by the system 10. Theseprofiles identify system features selected by the end users. In additionto or as an alternative to entering user IDs, the system 10 can monitorcharacteristics of the vehicle to automatically determine the identityof the driver. For example, the system 10 can include an interface to anelectric driver seat memory for determining the driver seat position.Based on the seat position, the system 10 can be personalized for thecurrent driver.

[0051] The learning mode or operational mode programs 50-52 can includesoftware code for determining and using the driver identity.

[0052] While specific embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat the disclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and mayassume many embodiments other than those specifically set out anddescribed above. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is indicated inthe appended claims, and all changes that come within the meaning andrange of equivalents are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a vehicle navigation system, a method ofidentifying a routinely traveled route, comprising: determining a triporigin point defining a physical location of a vehicle; determining theidentity of a driver of the vehicle; determining a route taken by thevehicle; determining a trip destination point; and identifying theroutinely traveled route by comparing the trip origin point, the route,the trip destination point, and the identity of the driver toinformation stored in a trip database, the information representing atleast one previously traveled route.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe step of determining the trip origin point includes monitoringposition data indicating the physical location of the vehicle when thevehicle enters an operational state.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe step of determining the route taken by the vehicle includesmonitoring position data received by the system.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: recording a trip departure time; and identifyingthe routinely traveled route by comparing the trip departure time to theinformation stored in the trip database.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: identifying the routinely traveled route as either aprimary route or a secondary route.
 6. A vehicle navigation system,comprising: a database for storing one or more trip recordscorresponding to one or more routine trips; a positioning subsystem forproviding position information; an interface providing a driveridentity; a processor operatively coupled to the database, the interfaceand the positioning subsystem; and a software program executable by theprocessor for generating at least one trip record identifying aroutinely traveled route by comparing the position information and thedriver identity to the trip records stored in the database.
 7. Thevehicle navigation system of claim 6, further comprising: means forrecording a trip departure time; and means for comparing the tripdeparture time to the trip records.
 8. A method of notifying an end userof traffic conditions, comprising: determining whether a vehicle isengaging in a routine trip; retrieving from a computer-readable databaseroute information associated with the routine trip and a driveridentity; accessing real-time traffic information corresponding to theroute information; and notifying the end user of the traffic conditionsindicated by the real-time traffic information.
 9. The method of claim8, further comprising: determining an origin point defining the currentlocation of the vehicle; comparing the origin point to one or morerecorded origin points associated with one or more trip records storedin a trip database; and determining whether the vehicle is engaging inthe routine trip based on the comparison of the origin point and therecorded origin points.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicleis determined to be engaging in the routine trip if the origin point iswithin a predetermined distance of one of the recorded origin points.11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining a currentdeparture time for the vehicle; comparing the current departure time toone or more recorded departure times associated with one or more triprecords stored in a trip database; and determining whether the vehicleis engaging in the routine trip based on the comparison of the currentdeparture time and the recorded departure times.
 12. The method of claim11, wherein the vehicle is determined to be engaging in the routine tripif the current departure time is within a predetermined period of one ofthe recorded departure times.
 13. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: notifying the end user of an alternative route.
 14. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: determining at least one routetravel time based on the real-time traffic information; and notifyingthe end user of the at least one route travel time.
 15. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: determining a plurality of route traveltimes based on the real-time traffic information; comparing the routetravel times to one or more predetermined thresholds; and notifying theend user of an alternative route based on the comparison of the routetravel times to the predetermined thresholds.
 16. The method of claim 8,wherein the route information includes route data for a plurality ofroutes between an origin point and a destination point.
 17. The methodof claim 8, further comprising: storing at least one trip record in thecomputer-readable database.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: generating the at least one trip record by monitoring andrecording trip information during vehicle operation.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the trip information includes information selectedfrom the group consisting of trip departure time, origin point,destination point, date of travel, day of travel, and route data.
 20. Avehicle navigation system, comprising: a receiver for receivingreal-time traffic information; a database for storing one or more triprecords of trip information corresponding to one or more routine trips;an interface providing an identity of an end user; a processoroperatively coupled to the receiver, the interface and the database; alearning mode program executable by the processor for generating atleast one trip record associated with the identity of the end user bymonitoring and recording trip information during operation of a vehicle,the learning mode program storing the at least one trip record in thedatabase; and an operational mode program executable by the processorfor determining whether a vehicle is engaging in a routine trip, forretrieving from the database trip information stored in a trip recordassociated with the routine trip, for accessing real-time trafficinformation corresponding to the trip information, and for notifying theend user of traffic conditions indicated by the real-time trafficinformation.
 21. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein thetrip information includes information selected from the group consistingof trip departure time, origin point, destination point, date of travel,day of travel, and route information.
 22. The vehicle navigation systemof claim 21, wherein the route information includes route data for aplurality of routes between an origin point and a destination point. 23.The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the receiver receivesthe real-time traffic information over a wireless communication link.24. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the operationalmode program determines at least one route travel time based on thereal-time traffic information and notifies the end user of the at leastone route travel time.
 25. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20,wherein the operational mode program determines a plurality of routetravel times based on the real-time traffic information, compares theroute travel times to one or more predetermined thresholds, and notifiesthe end user of an alternative route based on the comparison of theroute travel times to the predetermined thresholds.
 26. The vehiclenavigation system of claim 20, further comprising: at least one sensor,operatively coupled to the processor, for indicating that the vehicle isin operation.
 27. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein thelearning mode program is executed by the processor as a backgroundprocess.
 28. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein each ofthe trip records is identified as storing trip information regarding aprimary or a secondary route.
 29. A computer-usable medium storing aregular route software program for directing a computer-based system toprovide notification of traffic conditions, the regular software programincluding: a learning mode program for generating at least one triprecord by determining the identity of an end user and recording tripinformation during operation of a vehicle, the learning mode programcapable of storing the at least one trip record in a database; and anoperational mode program for determining whether a vehicle is engagingin a routine trip, for retrieving from the database trip informationstored in a trip record associated with the routine trip, for accessingreal-time traffic information corresponding to the trip information, andfor providing notification of traffic conditions indicated by thereal-time traffic information.